The Emmanuel Men's Basketball team traveled to Belmont, NC to face Belmont Abbey College in conference action. The Lions jumped out to an early lead, taking a dominant 55-29 lead into the half. The Crusaders answered in the second half, going on a early run to cut the Lions to under ten points, but the Lions closed the game out strong at the foul line to earn the win, 86-76. With the win, the Lions move to 14-12 on the season, 11-7 in conference action.
The two teams traded points early, with
Devin Story,
Ezra McKee, and
Rett VanDeMark getting on the board early to make it 16-11 Lions with 14:43 to play in the first. The Lions got hot from beyond the arc, with Story,
Sam Thacker and
Massimo Moretti connecting from three-point range to make it 33-16, Lions with 8:33 to play in the half. With 4:47 to play, a three-pointer from Story put they Lions up by 22, 46-24 and the Lions closed out the half strong to take a 55-29 lead into the half. In the half, the Lions shot 75% from the field (21-28), connecting on 11-14 (79%) from three-point range.
The Crusaders opened the second half on a scoring run of their own, chipping away at the Lions lead. With 11:47 to play, the Crusaders closed the gap to 11 points, 63-52 but the Lions used a jumper from Story and a three-pointer by
Isaac Jones to push the Lions lead to 69-53 with 8:38 to play. Driving layups by McKee and Story made it 73-60 with 5:21 to play, but the Crusaders chipped away at the Lions lead, making it 76-69 with 2:48 to play. The Lions closed the game out at the foul line to earn the 10-point win, 86-76. In the 2
nd half, the Lions shot 47% from the field, connecting on 38% from three-point range.Â
Devin Story led all scorers with 41 points on the night, with
Ezra McKee (15) and
Sam Thacker (14) rounding out the leading scorers. McKee picked up 4 rebounds for the Lions, with Story adding 4 assists.Â
Next up, the Lions will travel to Wilson, NC to face the Barton College Bulldogs on Saturday at 4PM.Â
For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.Â
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